Albania, a predominantly Muslim country, told the United States it was prepared to send more non-combat troops to Iraq (news - web sites), the government said Monday, in a possible expansion of the 71-member-strong contingent patrolling the northern city of Mosul under U.S. command.

Despite the small number of Albanian forces, the public commitment from Tirana was bound to be welcome news to the United States after Spain's weekend announcement that it was withdrawing its 1,300-member contingent as soon as possible.

Albanian Foreign Minister Kastriot Islami made the offer Friday in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites).

The statement did not say what the increase would be. But earlier this month the defense ministry said it was considering increasing its commitment to 200 soldiers, despite the recent terrorist attacks against members of the U.S.-led coalition.

"We have expressed our readiness to positively respond to the request for additional forces and we are working to set the practical details to achieve that," the minister was quoted as telling Powell.

Albania was one of the most vocal backers of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Although it was unable to provide significant military support, it opened its airspace and offered U.S.-led forces the use of its bases.

I remember WFB, Jr. writing thirty some odd years ago saying the Albania was a nation composed mainly of rocks and serfs.

From what I know about Albania, there's some change, but not a whole lot... It's not to the point where I'd ever book a vacation there... Maybe in 30 years, but not in its current environment, even though parts of it are supposed to be as beautiful as other areas in the former Yugoslavia and Serbia/Montenegro.

"Now, if they can only quell the criminal activiy occurring in neighboring Kosovo..."

This is propaganda only. It is being done so that the US will not look to closely at the ties between the Albanian govt and criminal activity in neighboring Kosovo....

They kiss up to the US State Department and in return their involvement with KLA and weapons smuggling are ignored. Albania is a terrorist state. Their politicians are all corrupt. Albanian security forces are all in the employ of organized crime.

The foreign policy of Albania after World War II has had few historic moments when the principles of international relations conformed to its state and national interests so clearly as in the case of the Iraq crisis.The decision to join the international coalition led by the United States against the regime of Saddam Hussein was the result of a wide political and public consensus. In a rare display of unity, the Albanian Parliament unanimously voted on 3 March for a resolution to place airspace, ports and land bases at the disposition of the Coalition of the Willing. When parliament voted on 13 March to send an Albanian military unit to join the coalition in the Persian Gulf, there was only one abstention and no one voted against. Such unanimity in a democratic and pluralistic society is a clear indication of Albania's complete commitment to the cause.

The cohesion of the government, opposition and the majority of the Albanian public on the Iraqi crisis illustrates the desire for Albanian foreign policy and diplomacy to play a greater role in contributing to peace and stability. Albania joined the Coalition of the Willing because it had clear political and diplomatic ideas, platforms and visions regarding the meaning and worldwide effect of the new phase of the global war against international terrorism.

First, Albania has linked its participation in the Coalition of the Willing with democracy and with the democratisation of international relations. Its choice between Iraq's oppressive, terrorist regime and the United States conforms to the principles and the western civilised values that contributed to the overthrow of Albania's communist totalitarian regime 11 years ago. Albanian President Alfred Moisiu, in his 25 March speech at the Council of National Security, stressed that in the opinion of Albanians "the war in Iraq is a war against the war, a war for peace, for a world many times more secured and with more freedom. We do not consider this war as a war of the United States and United Kingdom, but as a war for protecting the peace and the values of civilised humanity from the threat of international terrorism."

It is encouraging that Albania, having taking its position on the Iraqi crisis, is in step with the majority of the Eastern European states that also emerged from the communist dictatorship. The ugly experience of long years of oppression has guided Albanian foreign policy towards being more sensible and more sympathetic in the fight for human rights and against dictators such as Saddam Hussein. Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta, together with nine foreign ministers of the countries of the Vilnius Group, signed the declaration supporting the stance of the coalition on the crisis in Iraq. The presidents of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia joined in a common declaration on 12 February that supports the coalition.

In a letter to Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano US President George W Bush stated that the United States highly regarded Albania's willingness to support the coalition and its role as an important contributor to regional and global security. President Alfred Moisiu (right), along with the presidents of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia joined in a common declaration on 12 February that supports the coalition. [AFP]

One of 45 states that have joined the Coalition of the Willing, Albania was not led by economic interests in arriving at its position on Iraq, and it has no interest in that country's oil. It was led by democratic principles and it even may be said that one of the motives in supporting the international war against Saddam Hussein has been an idealistic feeling that is nourished by those principles.

Participation in the US-led coalition presents to Albania a new turning point with regard to international affairs and the equality of states in the world family. Through this participation, Albania is understanding and discovering a more effective and more concrete role that small states can play in international relations and global security.This is an important element of the real democratisation of the relations between states and of the need to consider more and more the voice of the smaller countries in international problems, institutions and organisations. In a letter to Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano on 19 March, President George W Bush stated that the United States highly regarded Albania's willingness to support the coalition and its role as an important contributor to regional and global security.

In today's world, the interdependence of individual, regional and global security increases with every passing day. The actions of the international coalition in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq during the entire post-Cold War period are three examples of positive turning points in establishing new international democratic relations, where the principle of aid and humanitarian intervention takes priority over the formality of the imposed legitimacy of terrorist and dictatorial regimes. Albania strongly supported NATO's intervention against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo. That relationship was further strengthened when Albania supported the intervention of the international coalition against the terrorist regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan by sending a unit of its military forces. In Tirana, the Albanian soldiers in Afghanistan and in Iraq are considered soldiers of peace and democracy.

In its stance on the Iraq crisis, Albanian diplomacy remains loyal to an old and traditional code of the Albanian nation -- the code of loyalty and gratitude. This has to do with the deep and popular gratitude that Albanians feel toward the United States as a country that helped Albania gain independence at the beginning of the last century and as a country that saved the people of Kosovo from genocide and ethnic cleansing. Historic memory plays its role in the motivation of diplomacy and of the foreign policy of each state, and it is not by chance that all the Albanian leaders have forcefully emphasised it these days.This gratitude towards the United States is a characteristic not only of the Albanians in Albania, but also of Albanians in Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and wherever they live. Official ceremonies were held in Tirana and Pristina on 24 March on the fourth anniversary of NATO's action against the Milosevic regime.

That Albania joined the Coalition of the Willing was a choice that stemmed from the independent action of Albanian diplomacy.Supporters and opponents of the war in Iraq share the idea that international relations from now on will not be the same as before. However, Albania is convinced that such developments will lead to a world with more freedom, more security and more democracy.

7
posted on 04/19/2004 1:02:49 PM PDT
by GeraldP
(From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.)

An Albanian commando stands guard in front of the American flag at Mother Teresa airport before he leaves for Iraq (news - web sites) to participate in the U.S. led coalition, Tirana, April 12, 2004. Albania, a staunch ally of the United States is sending a 70-strong brigade of its elite commando troops in Iraq. REUTERS/Arben Celi

8
posted on 04/19/2004 1:17:45 PM PDT
by GeraldP
(From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.)

They kiss up to the US State Department and in return their involvement with KLA and weapons smuggling are ignored. Albania is a terrorist state. Their politicians are all corrupt. Albanian security forces are all in the employ of organized crime.

That's ridiculous, you're the one pushing propoganda... It never was, and is not, a terrorist state... Corrupt? Absolutely. Terrorist, that's insane.

Do you deny that the KLA is a terrorist organization? Do you also deny that the KLA and its successors, Albanian Kosovo politicians and drug lords, have close ties with Albanian politicians? Do you deny that Albanians living in Kosovo and Macedonia get virtually all of their arms from sources in Albania?

Albania is as much a terrorist state as Afghanistan was before the US invasion. Just because they kiss US ass, don't let that fool you.

Do you deny that the KLA is a terrorist organization? Do you also deny that the KLA and its successors, Albanian Kosovo politicians and drug lords, have close ties with Albanian politicians? Do you deny that Albanians living in Kosovo and Macedonia get virtually all of their arms from sources in Albania?

Of course I deny they're a terrorist organization. They are a criminal organization- huge difference, if it wasn't for the Serb mistreatment, they'd be nothing but a gang of thugs. In addition, Albania is NOT Kosovo -the topic here was Albania, NOT Kosovo.

If the Albanian Army starts loading up their ox-carts, with the wooden wheels, they just might get to Iraq before it is pacified. Provided, of course, that Turkey allows them to transit that country. Until about ten years ago, Albania and North Korea were neck-and-neck for the most backward place on the planet.

In 1962, I was stationed in Brindisi, Italy. One week, two troopships loaded with Marines were transiting the Strait of Otranto; they were going to be allowed three days of liberty in Brindisi. The Albanian coastal artillery fired a few shots in the general area of this ships. Those Albanians will never know how close they came to being bombed up into the 16th Century. And it was some time before the port city of Brindisi recovered from their visit, and the slot machines at our little NCO club were never so full.

19
posted on 04/25/2004 3:21:40 PM PDT
by Ax
(Ever notice that we say "Judeo-Christian...." and never "Judeo-Christian-Islamic...?")

The only solution, in my opinion, is to carve Kosovo... The north, by Mitrovica and the Trepka mines, would go to the Serbs, the rest of the land to the Albanians...

The Serbs don't have the stomach to deal with constant death and destruction -there's too little to be gained... As for Albania rooting out the KLA, probably not... They have little control over the criminal organization, and want as little to do with it as possible, I'd surmise.

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